Key facts
- Three organizations providing legal aid to unaccompanied migrant children reported visits from immigration and HHS officials.
- The officials reportedly sought financial records without presenting warrants or subpoenas.
- The legal aid groups characterized the visits as attempts to intimidate them.
- The visits coincided with a Justice Department announcement regarding fraudulent sponsors of migrant children.
- Advocates claim the administration is attempting to cut funding for legal services to vulnerable children.
Organizations that provide legal assistance to unaccompanied migrant children have reported that agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General visited their offices seeking financial records without warrants. These groups, including Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, Ayuda, and Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), described the visits as attempts to intimidate them and part of a broader campaign against immigrant children's legal rights.
Michael Lukens, head of Amica, stated that agents visited on Thursday asking for financial records related to their contract for legal services to unaccompanied migrant children. He noted the lack of a warrant or supporting paperwork and characterized the visit as an effort to intimidate, which he asserted was unsuccessful. Wendy Young, president of KIND, reported similar visits from HHS Office of Inspector General agents seeking financial records without a warrant. Paula Fitzgerald, executive director at Ayuda, also reported agents visiting their office seeking billing and invoice information.
Advocates like Young expressed concern that these actions could have a chilling effect on legal service providers already facing financial strain. They argue the administration's approach aims to harass organizations that serve vulnerable children who cannot navigate the immigration system alone. The visits occurred shortly after the Justice Department, Homeland Security, and HHS announced cases against three Guatemalan nationals for allegedly fraudulent sponsorship of migrant children, a timing that Young suggested was not coincidental.
Critics have previously raised concerns about immigration officers' actions, including wellness checks at schools and detentions of sponsors during reunification meetings. KIND stated it is owed $20 million for services already rendered. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2008 established special protections for children arriving in the U.S. without parents or guardians, facilitating legal representation in deportation proceedings.